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Can Chili Crunch Be Trademarked? | Pivot

April 12, 2024 / 04:04

This episode discusses the trademark controversy surrounding David Chang's Muku and its chili crunch product. The conversation includes insights on intellectual property, branding, and the implications of trademarking generic cultural items.

David Chang's Muku has faced backlash for attempting to trademark chili crunch, a popular condiment in Asian cuisine. Critics argue that this move resembles attempts to trademark common products, such as ketchup, raising concerns about monopolistic behavior.

Scott, a branding expert, shares his thoughts on the situation, emphasizing the importance of intellectual property protection while cautioning against the misuse of trademark laws by larger companies to suppress competition.

The discussion touches on the potential legal outcomes, with Scott predicting that the trademark claim may be dismissed due to the generic nature of the term. He highlights the need for a balance between protecting innovation and maintaining a competitive marketplace.

Overall, the episode highlights the complexities of trademark law and its impact on small businesses and cultural products.

TL;DR

David Chang's Muku faces backlash for trademarking chili crunch, raising concerns about IP misuse and cultural appropriation.

Video

00:00:00
David Chang's muku finds itself in the
00:00:01
middle of some chili crunch drama muku
00:00:04
has trademarked chili crunch a spicy
00:00:06
oily crispy condiment popular in Asian
00:00:09
countries after sending cease and assist
00:00:10
letters to manufacturers using the name
00:00:12
the brand has been accused of
00:00:13
trademarking a generic cultural product
00:00:15
some critics have compared it the move
00:00:17
to trademarking ketchup and suggested
00:00:19
its mon his Monopoly Behavior a company
00:00:20
in Denver previously owned the trademark
00:00:22
and sent a CE to his letter to Mama fuku
00:00:25
which instead has instead worked to
00:00:27
purchase the trademark for itself I I
00:00:30
Scott you're a branding person what the
00:00:31
heck chili crunch I've seen chili crunch
00:00:33
stuff all over the place in Asia and
00:00:36
also anytime you go to an Asian market
00:00:37
there's a million chili crunch things
00:00:39
this seems crazy for for for M fuku and
00:00:43
David Chang to do he looks like an
00:00:44
we your thoughts on like this
00:00:46
marketing thing well it's like the
00:00:49
majority of bad ideas started out as
00:00:51
good ideas and that is our ability to
00:00:53
protect IP is really important whether
00:00:55
it's someone's likeness whether it's the
00:00:58
the patents or the you know Chemical
00:01:00
Context of a pharmaceutical America's
00:01:03
Innovation and our economy relies on
00:01:05
what you would Loosely called
00:01:06
intellectual property protection and our
00:01:08
ability to legally protect it this has
00:01:10
it gone crazy this reminds me of when
00:01:13
Paris Hilton tried to trademark that's
00:01:15
hot oh right yeah yeahhuh I knew you'd
00:01:18
be good at this go ahead and someone
00:01:20
said that no you can't trademark this so
00:01:23
the reason why we have thoughtful judges
00:01:25
in law and and and cases is that we can
00:01:28
say all right there is a line here
00:01:30
because what you have is it's been
00:01:32
weaponized in the sense that these
00:01:35
especially big companies or well
00:01:36
resourced companies send cease deis
00:01:38
letters to everyone for anything that
00:01:41
smells of anything remote and they use
00:01:43
it as a means of suppressing competition
00:01:45
and also they use it as a means of
00:01:47
trying to get unearned PR for example
00:01:50
Amazon will file a patent for a not only
00:01:53
a floating Warehouse which is probably
00:01:56
um physically uh impossible for the the
00:02:00
next couple centuries they will file a
00:02:02
patent for a projectile defense Shield
00:02:06
of their floating warehouse and the
00:02:08
reason they do it is they know that
00:02:10
reporters at Forbes and other Business
00:02:12
magazines troll patent filings and then
00:02:14
write about them so IP protection has
00:02:18
taken on all this different Nuance
00:02:19
including intimidation including
00:02:22
well-resourced monopolies they Conant
00:02:24
because if you get a cease and toist
00:02:25
letter and you're a small company you're
00:02:27
sort of inclined to say am I really
00:02:29
going to take on this well-resourced
00:02:30
company or am I just going to find
00:02:32
another name but this is an example of a
00:02:35
gone Haywire these are generic terms and
00:02:38
I believe the court will say sorry this
00:02:40
term has become generic you can't own it
00:02:43
I think this is exactly why to talk
00:02:45
about this even though people are sort
00:02:46
of losing their minds on um on the
00:02:49
internet here it's really important what
00:02:51
he's done here like and I agree with you
00:02:52
I agree with you this is a where do you
00:02:54
think it's going to end up it'll be
00:02:57
dismissed dismissed meaning he won't be
00:02:59
able to to to cease into system no yeah
00:03:03
it'll be this will be as you call it
00:03:05
legal harassment they'll say you have no
00:03:07
domain over this name and yeah and you
00:03:10
should pay back the legal fees for the
00:03:11
people where you're creating you know
00:03:14
what whatever you call it a superflous
00:03:16
or whatever the term but it's an issue
00:03:18
around the trademark office too because
00:03:19
I think he he does own the trademark
00:03:21
right he owns it well but but if it's
00:03:24
tradem markable they'll they that's
00:03:26
right I can't believe he got the
00:03:27
trademark at all right so I I just don't
00:03:30
I I don't
00:03:31
know you know I look this is a this is
00:03:34
for IP lawyers but your ability to Inc
00:03:37
to encourage people to make the
00:03:39
requisite investment in developing
00:03:42
important differentiated intellectual
00:03:44
property is really important to provide
00:03:45
that protection at the same time you
00:03:48
have to ensure that there's a
00:03:49
competitive marketplace where people who
00:03:51
are trying to develop their own IP don't
00:03:53
bump into IP that's been inflated Beyond
00:03:56
reasonable protection

Episode Highlights

  • Chili Crunch Trademark Drama
    David Chang's muku faces backlash for trademarking chili crunch, a beloved condiment.
    “This seems crazy for M fuku and David Chang to do.”
    @ 00m 39s
    April 12, 2024
  • Intellectual Property Protection
    The conversation highlights the complexities of IP protection and its implications on competition.
    “Majority of bad ideas started out as good ideas.”
    @ 00m 49s
    April 12, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Trademark Issues00:12
  • IP Protection Debate01:03
  • Legal Harassment03:05

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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